In Session » Lonnell Matthewshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics
Tennessee PoliticsMon, 07 Apr 2014 14:51:50 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors heads up host list for Jeff Yarbro fund-raiserhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/vice-mayor-diane-neighbors-heads-up-host-list-for-jeff-yarbro-fund-raiser/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/vice-mayor-diane-neighbors-heads-up-host-list-for-jeff-yarbro-fund-raiser/#commentsTue, 10 Sep 2013 16:22:25 +0000Michael Casshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=20206It won’t come as a shock to Metro insiders, but Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors appears to be backing a different horse in the Tennessee Senate District 21 race than the horse who serves on the Metro Council with her.

Neighbors’ name is the first on a long list of hosts for a fund-raiser that attorney Jeff Yarbro is holding in East Nashville next week. Yarbro is running against Councilman Jason Holleman, also an attorney, while Mary Mancini, executive director of Tennessee Citizen Action, is considering getting in the race as well.

Neighbors presides over the Metro Council. Council members Anthony Davis, Scott Davis, Frank Harrison, Lonnell Matthews and Peter Westerholm are also on the host list. Davis, Davis and Westerholm represent various parts of East Nashville.

Holleman, who represents Sylvan Park, has rubbed some movers and shakers the wrong way by opposing Mayor Karl Dean’s proposals for a new convention center (which the council approved) and fairgrounds redevelopment (which it rejected). But Holleman and his backers have said over the years that he votes for Dean’s agenda much more often than not.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/vice-mayor-diane-neighbors-heads-up-host-list-for-jeff-yarbro-fund-raiser/feed/0Nashville Chamber grades state lawmakers, Metro Councilhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/nashville-chamber-grades-state-lawmakers-metro-council/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/nashville-chamber-grades-state-lawmakers-metro-council/#commentsMon, 05 Aug 2013 21:24:27 +0000Chas Siskhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=19963The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released its annual grade of state lawmakers and the Metro Council on Monday, giving them marks for their stances on issues such as guns-in-trunks, the minimum wage and bus rapid transit.

The Chamber diplomatically graded everyone on a pass/fail, making it impossible to determine their GPA or come up with a class ranking, but state Sen. Douglas Henry probably goes to the head of their class in the General Assembly. The Nashville Democrat, who plans to retire next year, sided with the chamber on every issue that went before the state Senate (although he passed during one vote on the failed bill to set up a statewide charter-school authorizer).

Several Metro Council members received perfect marks from the chamber, including At-large Councilors Megan Barry and Ronnie Steine.

Councilman Lonnell Matthews didn’t make that honor roll, but he probably should receive a special certificate of some sort. The District 1 rep and budget committee chairman sponsored 10 of the 15 initiatives tracked by the chamber. That extra credit work should make up for the two votes he cast against the chamber.

]]>http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2013/nashville-chamber-grades-state-lawmakers-metro-council/feed/0May Town Center informational session coming up Thursdayhttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2009/may-town-center-informational-session-coming-up-thursday/
http://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/2009/may-town-center-informational-session-coming-up-thursday/#commentsTue, 21 Apr 2009 20:49:13 +0000Michael Casshttp://blogs.tennessean.com/politics/?p=2762The developers of the controversial May Town Center proposal in rural West Nashville will talk about how they’ve changed their zoning application during a Metro Planning Commission workshop on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Metro Southeast, 1417 Murfreesboro Pike. Master developer Tony Giarratana said the commission won’t take any votes after the “briefing” on the potential $4 billion development.

The workshop will be broadcast live on Metro’s Channel 3 and will not be a public hearing, Planning spokesman Craig Owensby stressed.

Giarratana and Co. got some good news last week. State Rep. Gary Moore, sponsor of a House bill that would allow land use restrictions in the Bells Bend area, wrote in his weekly update to constituents that 77 percent of the residents who responded to a survey said they were against the bill. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Douglas Henry in the Senate, is known as the Rural, Agricultural and Natural Resources Act.

“I was surprised the outcome was so one-sided against RANRA,” Moore wrote in an email Monday to Metro Councilman Lonnell Matthews, whose district includes Bells Bend. “The vote was 77% against with only 23% for.”